DA in Soccsksargen starts cloud seeding to ease El Niño's impact

The regional branch of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Soccsksargen on Saturday started cloud seedking operations to east the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

Amalia Datukan, DA regional director, said that the cloud seeding operation commenced after the delivery of 900 bags of salt and the arrival of a Philippine Air Force plane.

Datukan said the first flight was launched on Saturday.

She said that each cloud seeding flight has an estimated cost between P40,000 and P50,000. Each flight uses 10 to 11 bags of salt and each bag weighs 25 kilos.

Datukan added that the best time to conduct cloud seeding is between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Cloud seeding is a process of manually spreading salt or dry ice on clouds to induce rain.

Datukan said that the regioal office's cloud seeding operation is led by the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM).

She added that the regional office's Agricultural Engineering Section conducted a seminar in General Santos City attended by DA personnel from four provinces in Soccsksargen.

All participants were educated on how to spot appropriate type of clouds for cloud seeding.

Datukan said they are also encouraging residents to help the DA spot seedable clouds by taking pictures of clouds in their areas and posting them on the DA's Agri Tayo Soccsksargen Facebook page.

The government's weather bureau, PAGASA, expects the El Niño phenomenon to last until around June or July.

PAGASA also predicted that the country will experience lower than normal rainfall conditions from September 2015 to February 2016, with some areas experiencing 40 percent of normal levels. By February 2016, 65 of the Philippines' 81 provinces are expected to experience drought.

Air temperature is expected to be warmer than average, though cold surges are expected from November to December. PAGASA expects 5-8 tropical cyclones to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) between September 2015 and February 2016. —ALG, GMA News